


you can see it with the lights out

by Sonni89



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Based on a Taylor Swift Song, F/M, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 02:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2834168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonni89/pseuds/Sonni89
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse into Tessa and Scott's post-skating life, set to the second verse of You Are In Love by Taylor Swift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can see it with the lights out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perfectlystill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlystill/gifts).



> Dear perfectlystill, I loved your prompt so I had to write it as a treat for you. I hope you enjoy it. Happy holidays! 
> 
> Thank you so much to my beta, katayla!

Scott sat in the kitchen of his large London townhouse, sipping not-great coffee. It was earlier than most people would get out of bed, especially if they didn’t have to, but he just couldn’t break his training schedule, even though it had been months since he quit ice dancing. 

He hadn’t been expecting anyone, but when the doorbell rang, he knew it could only be one person. Only one other person would be up at the crack of dawn when they didn’t have a reason to be awake. Tessa. 

“Hi.” Tessa beamed, holding up a Tim Horton’s paper bag and a coffee carrier. “Your coffee is terrible, so I pre-emptively bought some for both of us. Also,” she paused and pulled a face, “bagels, because you obviously still can’t feed yourself with something as basic as toast.” 

When she said that, he could smell something burning. Oh great, there went his toast. Scott stepped aside and gestured for her to come in. “Lifesaver,” he said to her back. 

Tessa turned around to smile at him. “I know.” 

They had gone almost a month without seeing each other. After a while, it had gotten weird to just ask Tessa to meet up. They used to hang out for no reason at all while they were competing, but not so much since they’d retired. 

They hadn’t seen each other in a while and that was _weird_ for them, so he was surprised, but really glad that they were able to fall back into familiar patterns after spending some time apart. 

“So, what brings you here?” Scott asked as he was trying to get the burned slices of bread out of his toaster. It was a wonder the fire alarm hadn’t yet gone off. 

“Oh, I don’t know, I was in the neighborhood?” Tessa said. 

“On a Sunday morning? I doubt it.” Scott wouldn’t let her get away with this. Something was going on, and he’d find out what it was. 

Tessa grimaced. “Okay, fine. I missed you.” 

It turned out that wasn’t too hard to find out. Scott’s face lit up. 

Tessa was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He was almost sure he had feelings for her that went beyond best friends and partners. It was hard to tell, they’d known each other for most of their lives and they knew nearly everything about each other. That’s why he would have to be absolutely, 100 percent sure before he said anything to her. He couldn’t risk losing her. Tessa meant too much to him. 

“I missed you too,” he said.

Scott went to get out two plates, set them down on his kitchen island, where Tessa had already taken a chair. The chair she knew was _his_. 

He pulled a face at her, but sat down on the chair next to her. They started eating and chatting.

“God, I keep forgetting how cold it is at your place,” Tessa said after a while. “I should remember to pack an extra sweater - or three - whenever I come here.” 

“We’re used to ice rinks, Tessa,” Scott said, teasing. “I can’t believe you’re cold when my thermostat is set to a mild-” he paused to check the temperature on the control panel, “15 degrees.” 

“It’s really cold,” Tessa complained. 

One of Scott’s sweatshirts lay on the chair next to them. He reached for it and passed it to her. “Here you go. So you’ll stop complaining.” 

“Thank you,” Tessa said, and put on his sweatshirt. She hugged her arms to her body to warm up, but Scott knew her well enough to know it was at least partly fake. She did this almost every time she came over and she knew by now that he kept his place colder than most. She really just wanted his sweatshirt. He may have left a sweatshirt on that chair permanently so he could give it to her anytime she asked. 

God, she looked so good in his clothes. She’d look even more amazing out of them, though. He was sure of that. 

They just smiled at each other for a second, not saying anything. 

Tessa broke the silence. “Can you believe we just went a month without seeing each other?” 

“A whole month? How did I ever survive?” Scott tried to sound like he was teasing, but there was at least a shard of truth to his words. He hated not seeing Tessa every day, and these past four weeks were the longest they’d gone without seeing each other - or really speaking to each other - in years. He didn’t like it. 

Tessa suddenly looked a little wistful. “Hey, can you promise me something?” 

“Anything,” Scott said, and meant it. 

“Can you promise me that we’ll both make an effort to stay in each other’s lives? I believe we have more in common than just skating, and I really don’t want to lose our friendship,” Tessa said. She looked up at Scott with her sad puppy-dog eyes that would probably work on him forever. 

Not that they needed to in this instance, he was 100 percent on board with this plan. “Agreed,” Scott said. 

\---- 

They really did make an effort to see each other at least twice a week. Sunday breakfast became a regular thing for them, as did Wednesday movie nights. They tended to meet at Scott’s house whenever they hung out. That was fine with Scott since he knew Tessa didn’t particularly like the apartment she’d rented. She kept saying that she had no idea what to do with her post-skating life yet, so it made no sense for her to buy property right now. Scott liked having Tessa over anyway. She added a lively touch to his place that it sorely lacked whenever she wasn’t there. 

One Wednesday night in December, they had just finished watching The Skeleton Twins on the giant flatscreen TV in Scott’s living room and Tessa was getting ready to go home. They said their goodbyes, but when Tessa opened the door, she stopped dead in her tracks. 

“Damn it,” she hissed loudly.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked from the living room. 

“Snow. So much snow,” Tessa said in his direction. 

When Scott came to look, he saw that it had snowed a considerable amount while they were busy watching movies and maybe cuddling a little bit on the couch. 

“Yeah, that’s a lot of snow,” he replied stupidly. 

“I can’t believe I’ll have to dig my car out of that now,” Tessa said and sighed. “I can barely even see it.”

Scott had a brilliant idea. 

“Just stay here for tonight. I have a perfectly acceptable guest room, and we can deal with the snow tomorrow,” he said. He smiled. Anything he could do to keep Tessa around a little bit longer. 

“That actually sounds lovely. Thank you so much.” Tessa beamed at him. 

He wished she’d look at him like that all the time. 

\---- 

Scott woke up in the middle of the night to a light turning on in the corridor. He blinked a few times, then remembered Tessa was there, and in that moment he _knew_. He wanted her there with him every night -- preferably not sleeping in the guest room. Not seeing her for a month made him realize how empty his life felt without her in it. How even though they were the best of friends, there was still something missing. He knew then that he’d have to say something to her, even though it could risk their friendship, the friendship they’d had for almost as long as he could remember. He was in love with her. He was absolutely, 100 percent sure of it now, and he couldn’t keep quiet about it anymore. 

He walked out of his bedroom to find Tessa on the couch in his living room, reading a book. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

“Not really. I haven’t been sleeping a lot lately. I’m not quite sure why,” Tessa said. She put her book down. “Now that you’re up, sit!” 

She smiled at him and his whole world melted away. 

“You’re my best friend,” he blurted out. Damn it. It wasn’t the worst thing he could share, but this wasn’t Feelings Hour at a slumber party. 

She smiled brightly at him. “You’re my best friend, too,” Tessa said. 

Scott knew he should leave it at that, but he couldn’t help himself. He blamed his lack of sleep and the late hour. “In fact, you’re much more than that.” 

Tessa’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure if in shock or disgust, or both. He still had to get this out while he could. He waited for a second, but when Tessa didn’t interrupt or run away, he continued. “I’m in love with you, Tessa. Have been for years, probably, but I finally realized I can’t keep it in anymore. I really hope this won’t ruin our friendship, but I had to say it just this once.” Scott held his breath, waiting for a reaction from her. 

“Wow,” Tessa said. Then she hit him in the arm. “Took you long enough,” she said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

She closed the gap between them and kissed him on the lips. It was a timid kiss, and Scott wasn’t yet sure what to do with that, but he smiled despite himself. 

“It means I love you too, you idiot. I’ve known for years, but I was never going to jeopardize our career. But we’re not skating anymore…” Tessa said. 

Scott released the breath he’d been holding, then smiled a very smug smile and pulled her on top of him. Their second kiss was anything but timid. When their lips met, it felt like all their pent-up feelings for each other released into that one kiss. When Tessa opened her mouth for him, Scott knew he was the luckiest man in the world. 

When they broke the kiss, Tessa grinned. “I should get snowed in more often,” she said. 

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Scott said, and kissed her again.


End file.
